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Huawei Recorded a 25% Rise in its Revenue Despite US Efforts to Curb its Business

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Huawei has just revealed its last year’s revenue and with that, it has entered the same league as Google and Microsoft, surpassing the $100 billion milestone. The two companies had reported a revenue of over $100 last year and with a 20 per cent annual rise in the profits, Huawei has also entered the multinational technology companies in the US$100 billion club.

huawei
Image Source: news.cgtn

Although Huawei has been facing some issues in running the business in the other countries, and came under siege by the US government for the functioning of its 5G network in the country last year, the recorded revenue shows that if the company would be functioning fully in the US, it would have earned much more profits.

Huawei is the third largest smartphone maker, and most of the revenue it earned was from its smartphone sales. The smartphone division of the company has made a 45 per cent of share in the profits. The company is also the biggest telecommunications equipment seller in the world, and this very division contributed almost 50 per cent in the profits.

Although the contribution of the carrier technology division of Huawei fell by a 1.3 per cent and contributed the least, this is considered as an effect of the US opposing other countries use the Huawei equipment in their telecommunications networks.

Along with the US, Australia has already banned the use of Huawei equipment. And, due to the Huawei’s cybersecurity practices, UK and EU are also considering banning the use of the company’s equipment in next-generation networks.

The company is blamed for spying for the Chinese government by the US government, which the company has been denying saying that its products are no threat to the national security of other countries. Still, the company has confirmed that it has signed a few contracts for its 5G networks in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

The recorded revenue shows the fastest growth of the company in the last two years, and with the new contracts, the company may see some more growth in the coming future.

WhatsApp to Soon Roll Out a Fingerprint Authentication Feature to its Android Users

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According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp may soon release a fingerprint authentication for its Android users along with the much awaited ‘Dark Mode’ feature. The company had been testing the beta version of the dark mode feature for Android for quite some time, and now a report is surfacing confirming the release of the same.

whatsapp
Image Source: pymnts.com

WhatsApp is testing its beta app version number 2.19.82 and has submitted a new feature report to the Google Play Beta Program, which also includes the ‘dark mode’ feature in it. Facebook has already added the dark mode feature to its messenger, and according to the reports it soon will be bringing the feature to its other messaging app WhatsApp.

The dark mode has also been adopted by apps like Twitter, Reddit, Telegram, etc. The feature helps reduce the battery consumption for the AMOLED and OLED smartphones by reducing the full display pixel utilization. The company has also uploaded a screenshot along with the report that shows the dark mode in notifications settings, account settings, data and storage settings, and chat storage.

Also, WhatsApp has already provided its iOS app users with Face Id as well as Touch Id authentication for both iPhone and iPad, and now the Android users will also be able to use the Touch Id feature to authenticate their WhatsApp.

The new security feature has been spotted in the Android beta version 2.19.83. By default, the fingerprint authentication will be disabled and to enable the Touch Id for WhatsApp the users can select the option ‘Use Fingerprint to Unlock’, in the Privacy option under Account settings. Then the users will be asked to register their fingerprint for the authentication process. And, then the users can select the time span after which WhatsApp should lock, when not in use, i.e. after 1 minute, after 10 minutes or after 30 minutes. After enabling the fingerprint authentication, users will have to unlock the app with their touch Id, every time they would want to use it.

Though most of the Android users are already using the third party app locks for WhatsApp, an inbuilt authentication feature will add an extra security zone, and the users can ditch the other apps for the security.

The company is also testing and is about to roll out features including frequently forwarded and forwarding info and the audio file name in chat. The frequently forwarded and forwarding info feature will show the number of times a message has been forwarded, which may help in opposing the spread of fake news. Also, the audio file name in chat will show the name of the audio file sent over WhatsApp chat.

Spotify is Testing a New Premium Discounted Subscription Plan for Two Under the Same Roof

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As reported by a Redditor u/Hasztagg, from Poland, Spotify has started a new premium subscription plan for couples, which is also suitable for two individual who wants to save some money on Spotify subscription plan. The company already is hosting a Solo Spotify Premium and a Spotify Family premium subscription plan, and now it seems that the company is about to launch a halfway subscription plan between the two services.

spotify
Image Source: complex.com

The most interesting thing to note is that the new subscription plan will be launched with a new playlist called Duo Mix similar to Spotify’s existing Discover Weekly or Daily Mix playlists. The playlist will be generated on the basis of the habits of the two subscribers. The plan will also include two tempo options, i.e., Chill and Upbeat, and the users can choose any one among the two, accordingly.

With the help of the Share Playlist feature, the two participants can also share their playlists with each other. To get access to the Spotify’s Duo Premium plan, it is necessary for the two subscribers to have a similar address. While subscribing for the plan, Spotify will ask the two for their address, same as it asks the Family Premium plan subscribers, during the subscription process, and the address has to be same.

Currently, the Solo Spotify Premium plan costs a $9.99/month, and the Family Spotify Premium subscription is for $14.99/month. Reportedly, the Spotify Premium Duo will be worth $12.49/month, which definitely is a cheaper option for two individuals living at same the place. For now, the service will only be available in five countries, including Colombia, Chile, Denmark, Ireland and Poland.

“The pilot for Premium Duo is part of Spotify’s commitment to continuously explore new ways to improve the Premium experience. We routinely run a number of pilots and programs to improve our user experience, which can pave the path for broader changes to our product or just give us important learnings.” said a Spotify spokesperson in a statement.

According to Spotify, the new Duo Premium is available for new as well as its existing users. The existing users can easily switch to the new subscription plan and their Premium music, as well as the playlists, will automatically be shifted to their new subscription account.

Since having a similar address is essential to opt for this plan, it is more ideal for flatmates and couples. For now, the company is only testing the plan in the mentioned five locations and has not stated on when it will be available worldwide.

Magic Leap Opens Up New Options for People to Buy its AR Headsets, Including From Selected AT&T Stores

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Many of you might have heard of augmented reality headset Magic Leap One that the company Magic Leap launched last year. The company has partnered with AT&T and has announced that the company is going to exclusively sell this mixed reality headset in some of the flagship AT&T stores in Boston, San Francisco and Chicago starting from April 1st.

magic leap
Image Sourec: magicleap.com

Though many early buyers have already got their hands on the Magic Leap One Creator Edition AR headset a few months ago, the company has opened up new options for its buyers to get access to the same in the coming month. In fact, the company has also teamed up with the HBO to deliver the Game of Thrones fans a next level experience with this AR headset, i.e., the company will demo the GOT White Walkers through the MAgic Leap One at the AT&T stores. As the GOT final season is also about to premiere in April, teaming up with HBO is a clever marketing move that the company has opted for.

The availability of the Magic One headset won’t be right away. It will be available at the Boston store on Boylston Street on April 1st, at the AT&T store of the Chicago location on Michigan Avenue from 3rd April and from the 5th April, the headset will be made available at the AT&T store of the San Francisco location at 1 Powell Street. People will also be able to buy the headset online from the AT&T website from the 5th of April.

The Magic Leap One is a $2,295 AR headset, which is on an expensive side. But if you are also interested in buying the same without paying such a big amount at once, the company is also offering people to buy the headset on affordable monthly instalments.

Though there are already many other VR headsets available in the market which are exceptionally great at user experience, including Oculus and Valve, Magic Leap is also trying to hit the market with a new experience. But still, it has not made much of the efforts as there is not many great gaming contents on Magic Leap. So there are lesser reasons people would invest such a huge amount on Magic Leap One except to explore the new technology.

ASUS Released the Fix for ShadowHammer Malware Pushed on Thousands of Computers

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According to a recent report from Kaspersky, more than a million Asus computers running on Windows operating systems are under a malware threat. A malware named ShadowHammer has been injected to a pre-installed Asus utility software by some unknown hackers, making the software vulnerable to hack attacks.

asus malware

According to the Kaspersky, over 57000 Asus laptop and desktop users reported the issue, and the attack took place between the month of July and November, last year. However, Asus denied the number of reported issues saying that the number of affected laptops is lesser and now, it has finally developed the fix for the malware.

As per the reports, the hacker planted the malware through a back door to the Asus Live Update Utility software, such that whenever there is a new update for the system, the malware is pushed into the system as a new update itself. The size of the malware has also made equal to the utility software.

The company has released a patch in the form of an actual security update, which the users can download through a Live Update software tool. The Live Update software tool has also been updated to the V3.6.8 version. Also, the company has rolled out an online security diagnostic tool that can be used to scan the system for any malicious software.

“We have also updated and strengthened our server-to-end-user software architecture to prevent similar attacks from happening in the future,” stated Asus in a statement.

Though the Taiwanese laptop maker Asus unknowingly pushed the malware to the systems of its customers, it was expected from the company to be apologetic about the matter. The company stated in the news post, “Asus customer service has been reaching out to affected users and providing assistance to ensure that the security risks are removed.”

Asus has also asked the ones with the infected Asus systems to take the backup of their data on the computer. They can fix their systems by simply resetting the system or reinstalling the Window to their computers, as it’s a software-level malware attack.

Gmail Finally Releases its AMP-based ‘Dynamic Emails’ for its G-Suite User

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After a year-long time, of the announcement, Google is finally has released the AMP support in Gmail for its G Suite audience. The company announced that it is going to release the beta of its fast-loading AMP tech to Gmail starting from today. The new feature is specially designed to provide users with more interactive messaging experience.

According to Google, these Dynamic Emails will give the user more web-based interactive encounter such that the user can fill out forms, browse image carousels, RSVP to an event, reply to Google Docs comments or even browse catalogues, without leaving their inbox and following any external link to a separate website.

The AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) technology will help Gmail to keep the content fresh and latest information will be displayed on the screen every single time, like new job recommendations, latest comment threads, product listings or social network recommendations within the email irrespective of the time the mail was received.

According to Google, its other products like Google Docs will also automatically gel with the new AMP feature and can be embedded in the messages directly. Hence, the user will not be receiving new emails every single time they are mentioned in a document, rather the thread will get refreshed every time and the user will be able to reply to the mentions from within the inbox.

For the dynamic emails, the company has partnered with other social networks including Doodle, Pinterest, Booking.com, etc. For now, Google has only rolled out the new AMP feature for its desktop G suite users, but according to the post-Google released on Tuesday regarding the same, the mobile version of the new dynamic emails will also roll out soon.